Quick Eats - Downtown L.A. lunch eats with my LBBS Friends

Here are a couple of places that I love to eat lunch at in downtown Los Angeles while at work (and beyond). There are two notable favorite places of mine that are missing, which I hope to get photos of someday: Papa Christo's (greek) and Phillipe's:

Langer's is one of my favorite places to eat lunch at, but only if I have a lot of time - they don't really go fast at this deli. Langer's is one of the classic downtown places that I think everyone should try at least once!

Here is the sandwich that I love from there - they make a killer pastrami and coleslaw on rye, with russian dressing. The combination is absolutely great for me - especially the saltiness of their pastrami with the cole slaw. And of course, no deli sandwich is complete without a pickle.

If you order fries at Langer's, you get the classic krinkle-cut french fries - it personally reminds me of memories from my elementary school cafeteria!

Next place on the list - a vietnamese sandwich (banh mi) place named Buu Dien - the only one I know of in downtown Los Angeles. It is in Chinatown, and is really kind of hard to find - the official address is 642 broadway, but it is a definite hole in the wall.

Funny note: "Buu Dien" literally means "post office" in Vietnamese. The restaurant is named after a very famous banh mi restaurant in Vietnam that is actually next to a post office (although the one here isn't, as far as I know).

So, this is what they offer - for all us non-vietnamese, it doesn't help very much, lol. And no english spoken. I always order the #1, which I think is the special? A new note: So, my Vietnamese friend Huong took a look at this post, and pointed out to me that the menu is in three different languages - vietnamese (on the left), english (center), and chinese (right), but it is all the same kinds of banh mi. Ah!

Anyway, so it has all the normal stuff for a special combo vietnamese sandwich - pate, various meats that I am never able to identify, pickled vegetables, and cilantro. When the french bread is fresh, this is one of the tastiest vietnamese sandwiches I have ever eaten. When it isn't, it is only ok =P. But, still better than driving out to the San Gabriel Valley just to get a banh mi.

The next place on my list of favorite lunch places in downtown LA is Angelique Cafe. It is a cute little french cafe in the Fashion district, and has lots of great french dishes, as well as salads and sandwiches. The photo above is of my favorite sandwich - a chicken salad sandwich, for those of you that know me well. Their fries are excellent for those that like thin crunchier fries ( as opposed to the thick, soft steak fries).

Here is another sandwich from Angelique Cafe that my friend Chris likes to order - a pate sandwich.

Ok, so these two last photos aren't from a place in downtown LA, but since my work friend Chris first introduced me to this place, I figure this is as good place as any for the posting.

There is a sushi place in Beverly Hills that is a favorite of Chris's named Mako - it is Japanese/Mediterranean fusion cuisine. It is very good, and I suggest going there if you have the opportunity. The first time I went there, I had an excellent meal, and one of the best desserts I have ever had - it was a dessert bento box, with 5 different desserts that I could eat. What a great idea!!! Anyway, so we went back this past summer.

The photo above is of their special lunch bento box. Sorry, I didn't write down what the various dishes were - although I can tell you that I personally thought that the first lunch bento box I had was better, because it had less meat, and more fish. This bento box seemed geared towards a more americanized palate this time - two different kinds of meat and noodles - the kobe meatballs were good, and the other one was ok. I didn't really like the noodles - they were completely ordinary, and not something I would expect from Mako, because he is a really good sushi chef - maybe the cook who made this messed up? Anyway, it was still a good bento box overall.

And here is our desserts. Not as great as the first dessert bento box I got (I think probably because my friend Chris knows Mako well), but it still had a lot of delicious desserts to choose from. We ordered two desserts, and they provided two more - the ice cream with fruit, and the cookies. They have really great desserts here, especially for a Japanese place, which is why I like coming here.

Comments Welcome!

Hi all -

For all of you that are reading this blog, feel free to make comments, and I will try to respond to it as timely as I am able. Please feel free to say whatever you want...because we all can, living here in the United States (yay First Amendment!). I do have comment moderation on (meaning I approve comments before they are posted) - not to screen comments out (even the hateful ones) - but mostly so I can screen out some of the spam that gets sent out of the internet (boo spam bots!).

I will try to be respectful as I can about everyone's opinions in my reply comments, but please do the same for me as well!

~Epicurious E.

My Philosophy about food...

For me, food (and the taste of food) is very individual to each person. You may like some things which I don't like, and I may like other foods, and vice versa. I feel that everyone's culinary palate develops just a little bit differently based on their previous food experiences in their life, which colors what they believe tastes good and taste bad to them. Therefore, there really isn't any food dish which everyone in this world will find "good," despite some people's needs to declare it so. Since food is a very personal individualized experience for each person, I try to refrain from making too many statements like a food critic in this blog. I do try to keep some perspective though, and compare the quality and taste of food at any given restaurant to other restaurants of the same caliber and type. But, obviously, this site represents what I like/and may not like so much, but what I say is: if you might disagree, go and try it for yourself! =) If you are going to eat three square meals a day, you might as well enjoy it, right?

P.S. If you want to know more about why I blog about food and about this blog itself, please read the intro. Thanks!

Definition of an Epicurean

American Heritage Dictionary -ep·i·cu·re·anPronounciation key: ěp'ĭ-kyŏŏ-rē'ən, -kyŏŏr'ē-adj.Devoted to the pursuit and the enjoyment of goodfood andcomfort.

"There is no sincere love than the love of food."~George Bernard Shaw

You know you want it bigger...

(For the earlier posts...)Click on the photos for a much larger, more detailed, superior-sized photograph, and appreciate the food in all its pictorial glory.

(Why Blogspot won't just let me use the original sized photograph that I uploaded, I have no idea) =P.

About Me

Go Bears!
Eating good food, whether it is cheap or expensive, is one of the major pursuits in my life. I am usually thinking about where I want to eat for my next meal =). Any suggestions?
I can be contacted at
epicuriouseats@gmail.com

More about me...Two quotes:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." ~ Margaret Mead

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." ~ Edmund Burke

Photography

I try not to take photos with flash, because that makes the food look really white, but that also means that some photos are sometimes a bit dim, depending on the mood lighting in a given restaurant. And yes, although it probably is obvious, I am a completely amateur photographer, taking photos with my trusty point-and-shoot Sony Cybershot or sometimes my cellphone camera when I forget my camera (it happens quite often, unfortunately).